


Bert

by suecsit



Category: Cobra Kai, The Karate Kid
Genre: M/M, Post Finale, lawrusso
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 14:13:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14717630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suecsit/pseuds/suecsit
Summary: Johnny and Daniel talk about the littlest Cobra. And other things.





	Bert

**Author's Note:**

> My URL on Tumblr is kairosandbalance. Come find me and talk to me about Cobra Kai. Please.

“So what you’re saying is I don’t know how to take care of my students,” Johnny barked.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Even though I won—“

“That’s not…” Daniel shook his head and threw his hands up. “I’m not talking about Diaz!” 

The last cars were pulling out of the All Valley parking lot. No one was left from the tournament, and the sun had set. After yelling about Robby for what seemed like hours, the two teachers were still at each other’s throats.

“Then what ARE you blabbing about? You already train my fucking kid. Who else do you want?”

“I’m talking about letting Aisha get hurt. I’m talking about sending that little kid into the ring where he got slaughtered in the first round—“

“What the hell do you even know about Aisha? Way to show your confidence in the opposite sex, by the way. Does your daughter know how sexist you are?”

Daniel’s fists clenched, and his voice became unsteady, but he lowered his voice it in a vain attempt at civility. “I’ve known Aisha since she was seven. What I saw out there was NOT her.”

“Did you know your daughter’s friends bullied her?”

“Sam would never…” He looked away. The hit and run on Johnny’s car was just one surprise that had left Daniel with egg in his face. “Let’s just leave our kids out of this from now on.” 

“She came to me BECAUSE she was picked on, she was outnumbered.”

“Like you would know what it feels like to be outnumbered—“

Johnny couldn’t help but smirk. He stepped closer. “Is that still what this is about?”

Daniel redirected. “So what about that little kid…the one with the glasses?”

“You’ll have to be more specific. I train more than one.” The smirk again.

“Ok, wise guy, maybe it’s not quantity, it’s qual--”

“Shut up Larusso. You said no more talk about our own kids. Obey your own rule.” Now standing closer, Johnny stared down at Daniel, his blue eyes locked on brown. For reasons he didn’t fully understand, he felt himself grow calmer.

“The blonde one…”

“What is it with you and blondes…” he muttered. Daniel always seemed to remember what someone’s hair looked like. Golden locks or some bullshit like that.

“You know…the one who lost right before the quarter finals.”

“You mean Bert?” Johnny suddenly smiled. “What do you have against Bert?”

“Isn’t he a little small….”

Johnny’s grinned, the irony delicious. “You don’t think Bert can win?”

“Win? Johnny, you’re just taking his money and setting him up to fail!“

“Fuck you, Larusso. I’m not just ‘taking his money.’” He heard noise from the highway. Saw lights going off in the gym. It was getting really late.

“Besides, that pint-sized kid has more heart than half the students in the room. Maybe it’s not all about --” He stopped himself before it came out. 

Now it was Daniel’s turn to grin. “The great Johnny Larusso is ADMITTING that size doesn’t matter. That someone small is one of his favorite students….” He took out his smartphone and pretended to call someone. “If you don’t mind, there’s a few people I really need to tell this to.”

Johnny wanted to knock that phone out of Daniel’s privileged hand for the second time that week, but he didn’t. “You’re such an asshole.” 

“Maybe it just brings back memories.”

“Maybe it does.” The words left Johnny’s lips before he knew what they meant.

Neither spoke for at least a minute. 

Johnny knew because he could hear the ticking of his analog watch. Sometimes the hands didn’t even move in the right direction, but it still ticked. He knew Daniel had an expensive watch, one that was also analog, but that shone in the dark like something you’d keep in a safe rather than on your hand. The metal and glass catching a small sliver of street lamp on his left hand.

Daniel slipped his phone in his jacket, stepping closer. “I’m just saying,” voice even lower, height almost even with Johnny’s now, “he could get hurt.” 

“You’re saying a lot of things.” They were only a foot apart at this point. Johnny suddenly wanted to leave, but he didn’t want to be the one to run away. “Maybe I don’t care what you think.”

“Oh? Because I care what you think.”

“Well you’re a dick.”

Daniel laughed. He reached out to look at the watch on Johnny’s hand, as if he weren't wearing his own. His fingers wrapped around a pulse point, turning the clock face around. “When did it get to be 4 in the morning? Have we been yelling that long?”

“No.” He felt the gentle pressure of Daniel’s hand and just stared down at his arm. “It’s just broken.” 

Johnny didn’t understand how Daniel did this. The asshole could disarm anyone. That must have been how Robby got pulled in. Robby probably showed attitude at that dealership, but Daniel probably ate that shit up and laughed at him. 

It worked though. Daniel held on, staring at the Walmart contraption like it was made of hieroglyphics. 

Johnny shifted his weight from one foot to the next. His fingers flexed involuntarily, and Daniel moved with them. He wove their hands together, the watch forgotten.  
Johnny watched him. Daniel suddenly seemed hesitant, and his eyes wouldn’t meet Johnny’s. Maybe he’d finally lost his courage.

For once.

“You know,” Johnny said softly, “Bert’s not afraid of anything.” 

Johnny stepped outside himself for a moment, like he was directing his body rather than inhabiting it. His free hand moved up to feel the suede of Daniel’s black jacket. He felt the other man’s breath hitch. 

“That makes him unpredictable,” Johnny continued. Then, more curious than anything else, he moved the hand closer to Daniel’s neck, just wanting to test the feel of the skin there, to feel him swallow nervously. Daniel closed his eyes as the hand moved to his cheek. 

Johnny’s hand stroked the side of Daniel’s face and he waited. He could disarm people, too. 

“Look at me.”

Daniel didn’t follow the directions, so Johnny unlaced their fingers and stepped in with both hands now, and cupped his face until he got his courage back. 

He leaned close. “Look at me,” he said again. The eyes slowly opened. They blinked as if coming out of sleep. Or one of those meditative states, perhaps, that he’d seen Robby use to block out the world in the middle of a fight. 

“Johnny…”

“I know what he sees in you.” Then he touched his lips to his enemy’s and his hands pulled Daniel into an embrace. Both of them breathed at the same time, and there was breath before there was anything else, just shared breath. For just a second Daniel froze, but Johnny deepened the kiss and tightened his arms. He felt the man sigh in surrender, the tension in his upper body slowly dissolving as they held each other. 

Daniel felt like home. Johnny remembered many things at once: the band-aids on the kid’s forehead, the light of the summer bonfire, and the way it felt to hand him the trophy. There were more lines on the man’s face, but he was still the kid from New Jersey, and suddenly Johnny wanted more than anything to protect him, just like he had when Daniel came hobbling up to him in the last round of the finals. 

It was part of why he lost.

When they broke apart for air, Daniel gently tucked his head childlike on Johnny’s shoulder, his hands tracing idly up and down the back of Johnny’s black gi. For once, he seemed to be at a loss for words. 

Three points and I win, Johnny wanted to tease. Instead he only memorized the feel of the body in his arms and smiled to himself. “I won’t let anything happen to Bert,” he whispered.

Daniel lifted his head and looked into Johnny’s eyes. “He’s lucky to have you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr at kairosandbalance.
> 
> I will talk about this show for hours with you.


End file.
